Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, who had convened last month’s Haridwar Dharma Sansad which witnessed speeches urging genocide against Muslims, was arrested by Uttarakhand police on the charge of making objectionable remarks against the women of a particular religion.

The arrest took place on the complaint of a law student at a time the Supreme Court is looking into the provocative speeches.

Earlier in the day, the Election Commission had remained tight-lipped on calls to ban another Dharma Sansad scheduled in Aligarh later this month. The commission on Saturday extended its ban on physical rallies and roadshows by a week till January 22 in the five election-bound states while allowing indoor gatherings with restrictions on the size of the crowd.

The January 22-23 Dharma Sansad has been called by people associated with the event in Haridwar in December.

Former naval chief Admiral L. Ramdas has sought a bar on the Dharma Sansad, and the Arshad Madani faction of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has issued a legal notice seeking such a stricture. They fear the conclave might vitiate communal harmony and violate the model code of conduct.

Election Commission (EC) officials did not respond to calls, messages and an email from this newspaper seeking the panel's response to these SOS appeals from civil society.

“If the EC feels that anything can vitiate the atmosphere, they can surely stop it because law and order is under their supervision now,” former chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi told The Telegraph.

An Election Commission statement said that no roadshow, padyatra (march), cycle/ bike/ vehicle rally, procession, “physical rally of political parties or candidates (including probable) or any other group related to election shall be allowed till 22 January”.

It added: “However, the commission has granted relaxation for the political parties to the extent that indoor meetings of maximum of 300 persons or 50 per cent of the capacity of the hall or the prescribed limit set by SDMA (state disaster management authority) will be allowed.”

Covid has a greater probability of spreading indoors, health experts say. However, outdoor rallies tend to be larger and maintaining social distancing is tougher. The Samajwadi Party had complained that the poll panel’s push for virtual campaigning benefits the ruling BJP.

Pandemic regulations in force in Uttar Pradesh allow 100 people to gather indoors, and half the capacity of a ground to assemble outdoors.

The Election Commission statement came after separate virtual meetings with the Union health ministry and the chief secretaries, health secretaries and chief electoral officers of poll-bound Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.